3 $20 Wines That Go Heavenly with Easter Dinner

A red, a white and a rose walk into a bar…

JoieFarm Viognier $28So for starters, as you can see I sort of lied about the $20. All three of these wines add up to $60, but if you’re getting technical the JoieFarm Viognier is $28, but it’s so flipping good that I felt the deception is warranted. The funny thing is, I don’t generally love Viognier, a grape with the colour of a white wine and the body of a medium red. People often call it viscous, which means oily and the mouthfeel can be downright creepy. Not here. Here we have the steady oversight of Heidi Noble and team making sure that there’s a backbone of acidity to keep this wine from being like late-career Travolta. There’s some cantaloupe and lime zest and candied ginger and mineral. And a cool new label. It should be sold out, but it’s not yet, but only because it’s new.Muga Rosado $16OK, so while we’re on this honesty kick, let me hit you with this. There is no B.C. rose within $5 that can go toe-to-toe with this pale pink killer of a wine. Honestly, only fellow Spaniard Marques de Caceres is in the ball park. Small red berry fruits, dry and a subtle delivery of freshness. All rose should be as bracing as this steal of a bottle. Monte del Fra Bardolino $17Why the heck does no one drink Bardolino anymore? Back in the day it was neck and neck with its southern cousin Chianti for the hearts and minds of North American wine drinkers and now this is the only bottling available at the BCLDB (there are 43 Chiantis. 43!) Luckily the one Bardolino we have is dynamite good: juicy, but not sweet, red currants and cherries and a dash of pepper for ballast.